


Ours

by iluvaqt



Series: His Best Girl [18]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Makeup Sex, Misunderstandings, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 13:11:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4350083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iluvaqt/pseuds/iluvaqt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve thinks maybe his absence didn't leave Felicity as shattered as he first thought. He's wrong of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ours

**Sam’s Townhouse, Washington D.C.**

On one of her frequent, pre-dawn trips to the kitchen, Felicity almost had a scream and beat up the intruder moment. It was only the fact that said intruder was quietly sneaking out of Sam’s room carrying knee high boots, too small to fit a man and not carrying any obvious weapons, that had her clamping her hand over her mouth instead. She watched from the shadows, barely breathing, as the seemingly familiar silhouette, stealthily left the townhouse. After the door closed, Felicity hurried to the window and watched the woman don her boots and walk down the block before getting into her parked car to drive away. Checking the hall clock, she noted that it wasn’t quite four in the morning. Heaving a sigh, Felicity realized how much they must be cramping Sam’s bachelorhood. They weren’t cash strapped, and she wasn’t in need of a trustworthy, supportive shoulder anymore. It was time they moved out.

Instead of mentioning their secret house guest at breakfast, which consisted of Sam stuffing a waffle in his mouth that Steve had made, and pouring black coffee into his thermo before jogging out the door for his truck, she waited until that night at dinner to prompt a discussion.

“Steve, we’ve gone to the banks to set up new accounts and transfer more of our funds back into the country, but I haven’t had a chance to show you our holdings yet. Or finish the insurance paperwork we have to do over since there was your death and then resurrection and mistaken identity crisis we went through.”

Steve grabbed her wrist from where she was serving out the salad and enveloped her hand, while rubbing his thumb over her pulse point in a soothing, yet unintentionally erotic manner.

Felicity dropped the serving tongs and for a second her brain went down a steamy, non-audience friendly path. She heard a cough that sounded like Sam and that brought her mentally stumbling back to the present and the reason she’d brought up the subject of finances in the first place.

“If you guys need a moment, I can make myself scarce,” Sam said only half joking. Steve and Felicity weren’t exhibitionists and were very reserved about their PDAs but their intense chemistry and their obvious love was hard to ignore. But instead of making him uncomfortable, all he really usually felt was a touch of envy. He had someone in his life, but it was difficult circumstances that brought them together. Now that the pressure was off and the invasion averted, he wondered if they’d go the distance. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner; self motivated, confident, successful, independant and she was gorgeous. He wasn’t sure what it was that he felt was missing. It was something, he just couldn’t figure it out.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about this too. Since it concerns you.” The twin looks of confusion across the table almost made her laugh. How could they mimic worry in the same way, she’d never know. “Stop frowning, it’s not Defcon 1, and nothing life threatening. It’s just… well Sam knows, I wasn’t coping well after…” she felt her throat close all of a sudden and she tucked her chin taking a steadying breath, fighting the involuntary tears that burned in her eyes. Steve was right next to her, still holding her hand. They were okay. He was safe. “After I lost you,” she forced herself to say and she smiled at him softly, hoping he understood that she didn’t blame him, and that she loved him.

Sam glanced between them, and felt his guilt kick up a gear. “I’m sorry, Felicity. I’m sorry I didn’t know what to do, but I should have tired.”

Felicity growled at him playfully and shook her head adamantly. “Sam, you had a grieving, pregnant woman on your hands. That you didn’t run for the hills says everything about your character. You took me in, you stuck around and you still managed to do your job through all my emotional breakdowns.’

Sam gave her a lopsided grin, embarrassed by her praise. He pushed his half empty plate away. He didn’t think he could eat anymore with the nerves playing havoc in his stomach. He hadn’t glanced at Steve yet but he could feel the weight of his eyes on him. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he saw disappointment in the his friend's face.

“I had Bruce and Tasha too. They were a God-send. Natasha introduced me to Laura Barton, and the woman’s calm and warmth, not to mention her experience just made everything seem manageable. I spent a week there after my first check-up. Natasha was working with Bucky checking out various HYDRA locations and she didn’t want me to be alone. It was while I was there, that Laura mention a farm up for sale. The wife had lost her husband and they had no children. It's a big farm about 7-miles away from where Laura and Clint live. I went up there to see it with Laura and the kids and fell in love with it. We never had a place that was ours. And the second I stood on the porch of that house I could see the future there, family picnics, lazy Sundays, a place you could easily make a home. There’s a huge pond, forests all around, and lots of pastures where they used to raise horses. I met the old groundskeeper and his wife and they couldn’t afford to buy out the owner, but they’d lived on the property for the past thirty years. Something just told me to invest in it. I don't know a thing about raising horses, but the owner had sold her stock, it was just the property for sale, not a business, and I couldn’t walk away. So I went to town and made the realtor an offer. The owner took my reduced offer and in under a week I had the property. I leased out the house and I've been working with the groundskeeper to start up a small produce farm. I’ve been up there a couple of times, when Clint has flown home and it’s looking great.” She studied Steve’s face, he hadn’t said a word during her explanation and he had an undecipherable expression on his face.

“We have a farm?” he said, his tone flat and his eyebrows pinched.

Felicity slowly withdrew her hand from his, wringing her hands together in her lap, worried over the lack of enthusiasm or anything in encouraging his voice. “Yes, in Vermont,” she said carefully, trying to gauge his mood.

Sam tried to smile at them both but after seeing Steve’s face he wasn’t sure congratulations was the right thing to say. “Vermont is a big move,” he said hesitantly. “There’s really no rush. You guys can stay as long as you need.”

Steve looked at his empty hand and frowned deeper, before his eyes closed. He pushed back from the table and stood up. “I need some air.”

Felicity felt her heart skip a beat and fisted her hands under the table. “Steve?” She glanced at his back as he turned away from her. His shoulders twitched and she could see his muscles bunching under his sweater. Steve really enjoyed exercise, but he only ran impromptu when he was upset. Why was he upset? Maybe she’d chosen the wrong way to talk about this. If she’d brought it up when they were alone, she’d force him to stay and talk to her. Right now, she didn’t know what to say. They had an unwilling captive audience. Before she could get up, Steve had already made the two short strides to the kitchen door and was out into the night before she could stop him.

Sam helped her clear the table and washed up. Felicity put Steve’s dinner in the oven and packed the leftovers into the fridge.

“Do you have pictures?” Sam asked out of curiosity, hoping to break the silence and lighten the feeling of heaviness in the air.

Felicity nodded. “I have lots of pictures. Laura’s eldest children spent the day swimming in the pond, until they realized it had fish, and then they freaked. It was funny after we actually calmed them down.”

She got her tablet and brought it to the kitchen. Sam stood at her shoulder while she went through her albums.

"This is the main house. It doesn’t need much work since it’s only about 16 years old and it’s runs off solar power and plumbs off gray water, and there's 5-stage filtration system feeding off an underwater spring for tap water. There’s a smaller guest house, that the groundskeeper is using at the moment….do you think it’s a bad investment?” she asked, suddenly. “I mean maybe I was impulsive and I didn’t do research like I normally would.” She fell quiet and her brow furrowed when she realized that she hadn’t really done more than look at local market prices and took Laura’s word for it, that the asking price was relative and the property was a once in a lifetime investment.

The rent coming in wouldn't have covered what she would have paid in repayments if she’d borrowed the money from the bank but she didn't owe the bank. She’d bought the farm through a family trust she’d set up for her and Steve, using money she’d made through a stock exchange analyst bot she’d developed to manage their money while they’d been in hiding. Through the program she’d created, they had accumulated five times what they’d put into the Cayman accounts when they’d prepared to run. They weren’t big spenders and living rent free at the Tower and Steve later at the training base in Virginia, they’d saved quite a lot between them. Yearly, Steve earned a decent salary from S.H.I.E.L.D and while it was hardly comparable to the salary she got as a Department Head at Stark Industries, together they had saved more than 620K over the course of their relationship. Which had amounted to more than 3-million return by the time she decided to purchase the farm.

The farm had given her something to focus her attention on, giving her less time to worry over searching for Steve, and later the fact that he had no memories of her. She had, had development projects to research and organic licence regulations to read over. There were so many possibilities as to what to do with the place. She’d also discovered that part of the 600+ acres included a maple grove that had never been cultivated or harvested. When she wasn’t testing Tony’s new tech ideas, or reviewing projects the company was interested in, she was working on revenue ideas for the farm. The young family renting the property had agreed to a short lease because they weren’t sure that they wanted to make a permanent move to rural living coming from Boston and big city life and Felicity was undecided about whether she wanted to stay in D.C, or move to the country once baby was born. Tony said she could easily commute when he needed her via helicopter and she could work from home the rest of the time. Pepper had, had to fill her position when she’d left without notice but considering the circumstances, Tony and Pepper had been understanding. She wasn’t head of Applied Sciences any longer but they had re-hired her as a consultant and the pay was more than generous.

::: ::: :::

It was only after he hit the back porch steps that he realized that his footwear wasn’t conducive to running. His slippers would probably trip him up two strides in. Instead he wandered over to the shed and slid the door open, waving Saefil down when she bucked eagerly at his appearance.

“Sorry girl, I’m not here to ride. Just needed to clear my head.” When she snorted unhappily at him, Steve cracked a smile. “Yeah, I doubt Felicity’s happy with me at the moment either, so you’ll be in good company." At her baleful whinny, he stroked her neck and relented. "What the heck, why don’t we go for a ride, huh? Just you and me, would that be okay with you?”

Following the impatient toss of her silvery mane, he moved back so he could slide open the gate to her stall. Fandral had helped Felicity convert Sam’s boat shed into a stable. Sam had, had a boat before his last tour in Afghanistan. He’d sold it when he realized there was a possibility it could get stolen while he was away. The money was safer in the bank and he could always buy another boat.

They walked out together into Sam’s modest backyard. Saefil tucked her wing against her body so he could mount and as soon a he had settled on, the horse took flight. As the night air thinned the higher he got and dropped several degrees, he found that appreciation of air he was looking for and also a dose of belated wisdom.

He remembered his parents together. They had, had a healthy, supportive, affectionate relationship. They'd had both been hardworking and shared the household tasks. They hadn't wanted him to be an only child but perhaps with how sickly he'd been, it may have been God telling them more children would have had more emotional anxiety, concern over if he was even going to make it to adulthood and financial strain on their already meager means. His mother had severe morning sickness where she was bedridden and had several miscarriages before they'd sat him down to say, there wouldn't be another baby.

From his parents example he understood what love was. Love wasn't just a feeling. You could love someone and be upset with them. You could love a person and be disappointed in them. You could love someone and still want better from them. But he also knew that love endured far longer than a person was a physical part of your life.

When his father had died, he’d often found his mother staring off into the distance while cooking or washing up. She would get quiet after reading to him for bed, it had usually been a family affair, curled up in the lounge in front of the only oil heater in the house tucked in his blanket snuggled between them. He caught her for weeks after his father passed, pausing on the way out to work of a morning, and sometimes after returning at night too, staring at his father’s coat on the hook and his shoes by the door. The first few days she had cried at times, but she had continued on as normal. He understood, even from his child perspective that if she didn’t work, they wouldn’t eat.

For a second while Felicity had been telling him about all she'd done, when she had believed him dead, he had doubted her love for him, but it only took going over his memories to reassure him that she had been grieving, but she fought on. She picked herself up and did her best to protect and provide for their family in his absence.

_“Damn it. I thought once they restructured S.H.I.E.L.D they got rid of all those trigger happy yahoos. We almost lost John today. They opened fire and he’s construct didn’t hold.”_

_Felicity had stopped what she was doing the second he stormed in, throwing his gear angrily in the corner. She stayed quiet while he paced and ranted._

_“Have you heard back from, Oliver?” he asked harshly. “We need to set up a meeting. There’s got to be a better way to get to our people before S.H.I.E.L.D or Osbourne’s group do.”_

_“Oliver got called in by DoD last week. He’s under the microscope. Hope is picking up the slack and Mari is helping but it’ll be a few days before they can get a team together to make another extraction.”_

_Steve glared at her and Felicity impassively met his eyes. When her eyes tracked to where he’d thrown his shield, he noticed the decent concave indentation it had made in the dry wall. He winced and looked down abashed._

_Felicity choose that moment to leave her station and wrap her arms around his waist. Squeezing him tightly once, she leaned back to look up at him. “Things suck big time. We’re doing our best to help who we can. Just know, that it’s impossible to help everyone. You’re only responsible for your own actions, Steve. You’re just one man. Those who matter understand, and those who don’t, don’t matter.”_

_“Did you just roundabout quote Jessie J at me?” he asked with a grin tugging at his lips._

_Felicity looked coy. “Maybe, I know you love her music. I also think you have a closet kink for the goth-look. I might have to go on a hunt for my spiked boots.”_

_And just like that, his anger at the world was forgotten for a time in the warm of her love. She didn’t judge him for his temper, or get defensive over his confrontational mood, she’d patiently waited for him to cool off, before proving she accepted him, flaws and all._

_:: ::_

_“Felicity!” It was the fourth time he’d yelled out for her. She finally came running into the room, her folders stuffed under one arm and her tablet clutched to the chest._

_“What is it?” she asked, a little breathless, and her eyes darting around looking for the emergency._

_“I can’t find the small skillet,” he said with his meekest expression. He knew how weak his excuse sounded to his own ears but he was committed to his lie now. Really he could have turned off the heat, and looked for it himself but he wanted her company, and he just wasn’t bold enough to ask for it without some excuse._

_Felicity rolled her eyes and deposited her work on the table. “Sometimes I wonder how you survived without help in the kitchen.”_

_“I didn’t really cook a lot before you,” he said with a cheeky grin. “There isn’t much satisfaction to be had cooking for one.”_

_Felicity pecked him on the cheek and retrieved his desired pan from the pot drawer no more than a foot from where he stood. “You’re lucky I love eating your food and watching you cook, mister,” she growled teasingly._

_He was lucky. She never even complained about having to clean up after him either._

_:: ::_

_Steve stepped out of the shower to discover an interesting phenomenon under his feet. The floor wasn’t cold or slippery, it was soft and fluffy._

_He looked down and noticed a red cotton bath mat just outside the shower door. It was as the fog and lingering steam drifted about around him, that the realized he’d forgotten to use the fan switch again._

_Rather than nag him repeatedly, Felicity often switched it on for him when she was around and now, she’d gotten a bath mat to prevent anyone doing any damage to themselves or the tiling. He smirked to himself as he noticed a matching one in front of the vanity._

_Thor would no doubt appreciate her thoughtfulness too._

_:: ::_

"I was being an idiot, wasn't I?" he confessed to the Pegasus. "I wasn't around. She was making plans for a future without me, thinking of our child. I wouldn't have wanted her in the city alone. Not surrounded by the aliens and superhuman danger we know exists. I remember the Bartons' place. It was peaceful and the air was good. It definitely felt off the grid. And it felt like what a real home should feel like. Welcoming, warm and... Our house will have kids toys, drawings and little people running around too," his voice dropped, the chill in the air or was it his emotions, stealing his ability to talk. He gripped her mane tighter as his heart ached in his chest. He'd just walked away from the mother of his child. So he had needed to sort out his headspace but he shouldn't have walked out on her. She had been trying to share what plans she had made and instead of asking questions and trusting her, he'd let his male pride take the wheel.

He had always felt a little insecure about how much more she contributed to their savings but the one time he'd made a throwaway comment about it, she'd pulled such a disappointed expression and poised for a loud voice speech that he'd quickly back-pedalled and did his best to dispel any issue with old school bread winning, that he made a mental note never to mention it again. Obviously his issues were still a work in progress. Would he have liked to be involved in her decision, absolutely. Had circumstances allowed for that, no and it wasn't anyone's fault but those Skrulls.

The cityscape far beneath his feet looked tiny. Atop a mythical creature, having just survived the surreal experience of being a captive in outer space, he realized how insignificant his perceived problems were. He was alive. He had a beautiful wife who loved him unconditionally. He had shelter and food to eat. Many couldn't count themselves even half as fortunate. They were only a small part of an seemingly infinite universe out there. He had seen beyond the scope of what he'd been taught and he was resisting but he needed to accept that there was very little he had control over. While he would like to have had a voice in every facet of their lives together, that just wasn't a realistic desire to have considering the people they were. Their lives weren't normal or predictable and probably never would be. He was America's super soldier and Felicity was daughter of an ancient race.

He owed his wife an apology. Felicity wasn't a frivolous spender, nor was she stupid and the inadequacy he felt as a provider and the belief he'd sometimes failed to shake that she was too far out of his league, that she could have done far better than him, didn't need to rear its ugly head. He wasn't going to sabotage the best thing that had ever happened to him by being chauvinistic.

"Take us home, Saefil." Steve patted her neck as he cleared his throat. Home. He'd forgotten what that meant to him for a moment. Home was with Felicity. They could be anywhere as long as they were together.

He claimed to trust her and have every confidence in her. He professed to love her. He hadn't shown that tonight.

Walking Saefil back into the shed, he shuffled slowly, feeling sheepish, back into the house. The kitchen light was still on but Sam and Felicity were no where in sight. He found his dinner in the oven. She had covered it with foil so it was still warm.

He sat down at the table and saw her tablet there. Curious as to why she had left it in the kitchen, he woke up the device, and before he could even look at a pictures he noticed what the album was called and dropped his fork, feeling like the biggest heel alive.

_Rogers Farm_

Part of the reason he'd felt slighted was he'd worried that it seemed like she'd picked up and moved on with her life pretty quickly in his absence.

This truth slapped him upside the head with figurative force. It was there every time she looked at him with her smile, it was there in her patience and in her demonstrative love yet he still had doubts? And he thought Tony was a fool.

Steve pushed away from the table and took a fortifying breath, while rubbing a palm over his face. It was time he swallowed some humble pie and hoped he wasn’t going to be sleeping on the sofa tonight. He found her with papers spread all over their bedcovers in the bedroom.

He blinked. They looked like financial reports, colored graphs and percentages pies, along with projections and she had a journal open that looked well used.

"What are you doing?" he enquired gently.

Felicity startled and the pen fell from her mouth. She had another tablet on her lap and she'd been typing away at something, that she hadn't noticed him come in. "Steve, honey, if you're not happy with this, I promise you we haven't lost anything. I can sell just as soon as the current lease is up, which is only three months off. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do once baby came so I wanted options. I was going through market prices and I spoke to an overseas agent and because we've put in the work to start the maple syrup production and the licence for organic farming, if I can get a long term tenant, we could even sell it as a business to an investor and it would make us more in the long run."

Steve crossed to her side of the bed and shifted her work. He took her hands and covered them with his. "I was being a jerk. It's not about the money," he said haltingly, berating himself over the redness in her eyes. She had been crying and he's done that. He had upset her and caused her to worry. He hung his head, swallowing hard before telling himself to grow a pair and speak from the heart. She had never judged him for his weaknesses before, she wouldn't start now. He looked up and met her bright gaze, her face open and accepting. "I know you wouldn't waste our money on something that isn't worthwhile. I guess in that moment you told me, I just felt redundant. You didn't need me. You had plans, you we're figuring things out and I wasn't a part of any of it..."

Felicity's eyes flooded. "Steve, nothing could be further from the truth. I had you with me, every second of every day. Speaking of," She reached under her shirt and pulled out his ring which hung around her neck on a thin cable necklace. "I took it off when I changed to bring you home and it's been in my jewellery box. I dug it out since we've been back but you never commented on it, and you didn't wear it all the time before, so I figured if you wanted it back you'd ask. I got used to wearing it. As a reminder of the promises we had made to each other. You're always with me," she protested firmly. "Right here," she brought their hands over her heart.

Steve withdrew his fingers from hers and removed the chain from around her neck. He took the ring from the necklace and slipped the band on his finger. Since being home, he'd gain his healthy weight back and the ring fit perfectly over the thin patch of skin that was only faintly untanned. "I'm never taking this off, ever. The world, heck, the universe knows we're married. You're mine, Felicity Smoak-Rogers." He leaned down and kissed her deeply.

Felicity smiled against his mouth and pushed against his chest. "Actually our baby will be Rogers, I don't want to saddle them with a hyphen of a man who hasn't been in my life for over two decades. Besides, I love the sound of Felicity Rogers when you say it," she said her voice low and inviting.

Steve felt all the blood in his body rush south at the temptress in her voice. Her hair was falling loose from who she’d pinned it up and her cheeks were still rosy from her tears. He bent forward and kissed each eyelid. “You have my permission to slap me upside the head if I’m being an idiot.”

Felicity held his face with one hand. “I’d much rather grab you and kiss you until you start making sense,” she said smartly.

Steve smirked at her. “That doesn’t sound like punishment. I might never learn to be a better husband and communicator.”

Felicity took his hand at put it on her breast. “Is that a clear enough instruction for you?”

His breath caught in his throat. They’d only made love a handful of times since he’d returned. At first they were both injured and needed time to heal. Later, he’d been worried he’d hurt the baby, until she dispelled that belief by riding him twice in one night, but he was still cautious about initiating anything with her.

Her breast was heavy and warm in his hand. It filled his palm and he could feel her nipple hardening under his touch. He closed his eyes and soaked up the sounds she was making and the softness of her body as he thumbed her nipple till it was stiff and obviously rigid beneath her maternity bra. She’d done away with underwire weeks ago explaining that it had been far too uncomfortable to wear. She didn’t need the lift in his opinion. Her beautiful perfect breasts had almost doubled in size and were spilling out of the soft, supportive bra he could see peeking out from under her night-shirt.

He gathered the hem of her shirt and lifted it over her head, she watched him with hot eyes and he waste no time divesting her of her bra too, before he latched onto one darkened, engorged nipple and laved it while she held his head to her breast.

Felicity made noises that made him suckle her harder, flicking the nub with his tongue and it made higher brain function impossible because he felt all the blood in his body was pooling and pulsing in his crotch. Switching to the other breast, he only detached long enough to get rid of his sweater and body-shirt in one move. He urged her back across the bed, not caring about the rustle of papers beneath them. He did however shift her tablet to a safer spot out of the way, so it wouldn’t be in any danger of landing on the floor.

He kissed his way down her rounded stomach to her bellybutton which was beginning to pop out. He was nearly distracted from his mission when he felt a tiny jolt against his lips, he paused briefly caught up by concern for the baby but the interruption didn’t break his concentration for long. Felicity’s hands had found his belt and in a second she was cupping him through his briefs, and all other thoughts fled his brain.

He twitched under her hand and he felt a new surge of heat pulse through his body. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he’d be decorating his underwear like a pubescent teen. With a warning growl and a serious cautionary look at her, which she seemed to think was humorous from her sparkling eyes and smothered giggle, he shed his jeans and briefs.

Capturing her mouth again, he kissed her breathless and didn’t pull away until he felt his own lips tingling from too much stimulation. Levering himself up, he gazed down at her, seeing her happiness and desire in her eyes, her lips red and puffy, her pulse point thundering under the smooth creamy skin of her throat, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

“I want to make love to you, can we do it this way?” he asked motioning the the way he was standing between her spread thighs, bracing himself on his hands over her. “Will you tell me if it’s too much?”

Felicity ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders. “You’d never hurt me,” she said firmly.

Steve hooked his thumbs in her nude colored underwear and pulled them down her thighs. Felicity then kicked them off herself, Steve didn’t much care where they landed. He was too busy fixated on the sight of how ready she was for him, her golden curls glistening with her wetness. He tested her with one thick finger before adding another. She whimpered and arched on the mattress, causing more rustling and crunching of the papers beneath her. Gloriously naked, her curls loose and gracing her shoulders, golden straw-colored hair fanned about her head, her red lips open and panting, he’d never pictured her more wanton and he was out of his mind for her.

He worried that he wouldn’t be able to control his thrusts, that his strength would get out of hand. But hesitation didn’t last, because she decided things for him. Her hand closed around him and drew him in and once her slick heat touched his skin, he was lost. He surged home and fully sheathed inside her, he shuddered and cried out.

Her muscles rippled over him and he couldn’t help the expletive that fell from his tongue. Without any conscious thought, his body took over and set a vigorous, steady pace of driving in and pulling away, until just his head stayed inside her. Felicity seemed to be at a loss to control herself too, her body writhing on the bed, her hands fisting in the covers. She tried to bite her lips to keep from crying out as he surged into her again and again, feeling her muscles stretch and clutch at him, repeatedly, getting warmer and wetter with every thrust but she wasn't successful. The sounds of her gasps and whimpers filled his ears and almost shattered his restraint. He watched perspiration break out across her brow and at the hollow of her throat, little beats of sweat forming between her breasts. His limited attention was split between watching the expressions of rapture and esctasty on her face and the extremely entrancing way her breast bounced as he drove into her.

His pace broke her control, and she couldn’t hold in her cries anymore. She started praising him and begging him in the same breath. He didn’t know which to listen too, so he figured he listen to her body instead and the way it was grabbing at him, he figured he was doing the right thing. He gave her a smug, bemused grin when she grasped one of the throw cushions and planted it over her mouth, her chest contracting as she screamed into it. He watched her eyes roll back, and her body tense as a flash of heat raced through her. He felt it and the way her muscles clenched around him hard and it triggered his own release. He came with a pained groan and a curse with the force of the sensation running riot over his nerve-endings. Unable to stand any longer, he kept hold of one of her legs, anchoring her against his body and came to rest on the bed beside her. He stroked the strands of hair that clung to her face, away from her eyes and kissed her.

“I don’t deserve you,” he said softly, still shorton breath. “But I love you and I can promise you, that I’ll always try to be a better man. A better husband, lover and some day soon, the best father I can be.”

Felicity wiped the tear that fell from the corner of her eye. Damn pregnancy hormones made her a basket case of emotions at the best of times. “You are the best man for me, Steve. All I ask is that you love me. Together we can work through anything.”

“Amen to that, darlin’,” he said with a grin. “What do you say tomorrow we take a short road trip.”

Her eyes widened and her smile was blinding. “You want to see it?"

“I’d love to,” he said honestly.

Felicity threw her arms around his neck and showered him with kisses. “Oh I can’t wait to show you around. Ahhh, but first thing’s first. I need a bath. Our gymnastics woke the parkour athlete up and water seems to be the only thing that settles the little monster down.”

“Don’t call her that.”

Felicity arched an eyebrow at him. “Her? What makes you think we’re having a girl?”

Steve shrugged and trailed a finger over her shoulder and collarbone to circle her breast. “I don’t know. I just don’t imagine I’ll be good at sharing. A girl seems like a safer choice.”

Felicity snorted and poked at his ribs where she knew he was ticklish, sure enough he jerked violently but she found her hands quickly taken captive to prevent any further attacks. “We don’t get to pick and sorry, there’s no return to sender. We don’t have to wait any longer though. I’m past due for my 20 week scan.”

“Isn’t that halfway now?” Steve asked. He’d been reading up on the books on pregnancy, childbirth and infancy that Felicity had around the house and he felt a little more prepared and knowledgeable about what she was going through and the baby’s development.

“A bit over. I’m 22 according to my calculations and my first scan said my dates were pretty on the mark. Baby will make an appearance on or around the 25th of November.” Steve’s eyes widened in surprise and his lips fell open. Felicity felt her heart skip a beat. “What is it?”

Steve blinked and pressed a kiss to her shoulder before reverently stroking her belly. “I think she’ll be exactly on time,” he said his voice thick with emotion.

“Really?” Felicity asked in curiousity.

“She’s due on my mother’s birthday.”

Felicity was speechless. She’d heard of some families having lots of shared birthdays, but considering it had only been her mother, herself and Kay for so many years, being estranged from her grandparents, and not knowing where in the world her father might be, she’d never dreamed it might happen in her family. “That’s amazing,” she said softly. “Coincidence or fate?” she wondered out loud.

“I don’t believe anything happens by chance, good or bad it always for a reason. I survived being frozen all those years, stopped Hydra’s attempt at armageddon and Bucky's beat down to meet you. We always find our way back to each other, surviving terrible odds and now this little miracle. I never thought I’d find love again, much less have a family. Felicity, my faith was shaky at best. The first day I met you, you brought me hope. You didn't even know Bucky but you saw what was in those files and you promised to help me anyway. I have so much to be grateful for. Please don’t ever let me lose sight of that,” he said brokenly, thinking back to only an hour ago when he’d hurt her with his silence and walking out.

Felicity kissed his forehead and linked their hands. “No one’s infallible, Steve. But we’re perfectly, perfect together. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” He reluctantly pulled away from her and shuffled all her loose documents into a messy pile and put them aside so he could turn the bottom half of the covers over her. “I’ll go run your bath.”

Felicity sighed. Her husband might be rough around the edges at times, but to her, he was as close to perfection any person could ever hope to be. She hugged the pillow in his absence and let out an inner squeal of joy. Tomorrow she’d get to share her biggest project with him, the one dearest to her heart. A landmark for their future. A place to call home and something that belonged to them.

The next morning at breakfast Sam gave them a look that had Steve growing red in the face and blurting a token apology and Felicity trying and failing to hide an embarrassed but sappy grin behind her cup of tea.

“So when are you moving out? There are sounds I never imagined I'd hear coming from you," he said with a grimace at Steve. "Either of you," he amended quickly. "I think I'm damaged for life. How long do you think it'll take for me to forget hearing all that." His eyes brightened for a suddenly. "I'm Neuralizing myself."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that kind of use is sanctioned."

Sam got up with a determined look. "Kay will empathise with my situation. Besides I went through all kinds of crap for him... For everyone, whatever. It's a foolproof plan and I'm going with it. Last night never happened."

Felicity couldn't hold in her laugh at his ernest desperation. "Sorry... I just... You're not as quiet or stealthy as you think."

Sam glared at her and folded his arms in a huff. So much for his efforts to spare them awkwardness. "I hate you."


End file.
